1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display control apparatus and display control method for controlling display on the display screen.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique of arranging a character expressed by font data in an arbitrary area on the display screen has been conventionally known and is generally used in a document creation application and the like.
These days, an automatic edit function called variable printing has also been proposed. The automatic edit function can arrange a designated character string in a predetermined area in accordance with the size and shape of the area. More specifically, the automatic edit function automatically calculates the arrangement and size of characters, the spacing between the characters of the character string, the line spacing, and the like based on the size and shape of the area.
The automatic edit function is also applied to the document creation application. More specifically, the document creation application has a function of creating an area for arranging a character string. Even when the shape of the area changes, the arrangement of a character string can be automatically adjusted in accordance with the changed shape.
The automatic edit function generally targets a character string expressed by font data, and cannot be used for handwritten characters, figures, and the like having no font data.
In general, an automatic edit function implemented for handwritten characters, figures, and the like is limited. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 6-231308 and 7-182449 disclose only a function of changing the position and size of a handwritten character.
To use the automatic edit function, the user needs to recognize a handwritten character or the like using a character recognition means or the like, and convert the recognized character into font data.
However, if no handwritten character can be accurately recognized when trying to use the automatic edit function by recognizing a handwritten character, figure, or the like, no character can be accurately displayed on the display screen. In addition, no automatic edit function can be used at all for an object which cannot be recognized as font data, such as a handwritten figure or the like other than a character.